


twice the pain, the suffering, oh my love is unrequited

by The_Bisexual_From_Hell



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, F/F, Hope is clueless, Hurt No Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Josie is sad, Minor Hope/Landon, Red String of Fate, Sad, Soulmates, Unrequited Love, everyone else is just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:08:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25588810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Bisexual_From_Hell/pseuds/The_Bisexual_From_Hell
Summary: Josie Saltzman is screwed.She is screwed because apparently she can see the strings of fate now. A week ago some new monster had shown up to the school, blown some strange powder into her face, and she had woken up with the ability to see the threads of fate that are attached to people apparently.orA sad soulmates au
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 22
Kudos: 192
Collections: hosie legacies





	twice the pain, the suffering, oh my love is unrequited

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, English is not my first language, this isn't beta'd nor proofread because I randomly wrote it at 3 am, hope you enjoy.

Josie Saltzman is screwed.

She is screwed because apparently she can see the strings of fate now. A week ago some new monster had shown up to the school, blown some strange powder into her face, and she had woken up with the ability to see the threads of fate that are attached to people apparently.

Her red thread, the one that leads to her soulmate (according to all the research she has done) is tied to none other than Hope’s pinky. The universe has laid it bare for her, Hope Andrea Mikaelson is her soulmate. All those years of pining, and staring from a far were apparently meant to happen meant to be. Because Josie is very much in love with Hope, she thinks a part of her has loved Hope since she first laid eyes on the tribrid, it’s her own inescapable destiny.

The problem is, her love is unrequited, she knows it. Hope is in love with Landon, her one true epic love, and no matter how much it makes Josie gag, she needs to respect that, because the most important thing to Josie is Hope’s happiness, even if it's at the cost of her own.

Ever since she found out, she started shutting Hope out, well honestly she started shutting everyone out. She doesn't know how to deal with the fact that she apparently has a soulmate, her alleged forever. So she does what she’s best at, deal with her problems alone. Lizzie has tried to ask her several times if she's okay, hell even her dad checked on her one, usually, she's invisible to him, another student lost in the multitude of his job as headmaster. Even if she thinks he’s only checking on her because her grades have been slipping, the last time that had happened, she ended up going dark and killing Lizzie, no one wanted a repeat. 

Getting high in the Old Mill has become her favorite past time, she needs to relax and contemplate the truly fucked up situation she is in without her anxiety kicking in, weed does that for her, weed might just be Josie’s best friend at this point.

It is during one of these sessions that Hope finds her. 

“I didn’t know Josie Saltzman smoked weed.” Hope says in an amused tone “What are you doing out here by yourself?” 

“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know,” Josie is trying to go for a mysterious aura, she is not sure it's working.

“I would actually, I would like to know why my best friend has been avoiding me,” Hope’s voice became more serious with every syllable she spoke. “Come on, what’s going on Jo? You know you can always talk to me.” 

“Do you believe in soulmates?” Josie’s voice breaks a little at the end, she prays Hope doesn’t notice. 

“I don’t know,” Hope seems hesitant, as if she isn't sure what her thoughts are. “ The idea of having someone that completes you, that understands you, it seems comfortable, safe. At the same time, it seems awful, I would never want a soulmate, being tied down to a person like that seems restrictive, the idea that you have no say in who you love is horrible, fate is not something I want to take part in.” 

Josie can feel her heart shattering, breaking into a million pieces that will never fit back together, she wonders if Hope has heard it, can feel it. Hope just called Josie a prison, a thing the universe has made to trap her into following fate, a violation of her free will. She remains silent, she doesnñt know if she can keep herself from breaking down and telling Hope everything. And she can’t do that, because Hope would feel obligated to care for her, to figure out the whole soulmate thing with her, and Josie just wants Hope to be free. 

Hope doesn’t utter another word, she stays by Josie’s side for what feels like an eternity. Eventually, like everybody else, she leaves Josie behind without even realizing it. 

Josie decides that Hope can never know, that knowing would break her, it would force her into something she doesn't want. Josie is not planning on living past 22, she knows that if it comes down to it, she would give her life in the merge for Lizzie. Hope has lost too many people, she doesn’t deserve to lose a soulmate on top of it, so Josie will keep her sheltered, she will bear the burden of their bond alone. 

She knows that there must be a way to end it, to break this predestined connection, so they can both be free to love. And so she researches, she spends hours in the library, she pulls all-nighters. It’s not healthy and she knows it, her grades keep slipping, the bags under her eyes keep growing, she starts to lose weight. All her friends start to get worried, she tells them she is fine, just studying her, they all know she's lying. 

A couple of months after the discovery of the thread of fate, she finds a whole book dedicated to how to sever the connection, it's exactly what she has been looking for all this time. Reading it makes her cry. The bond can be served by golden scissors which need to be made with the blood of the people linked, and an item of emotional value for both of them. The book also states that the person to cut the bond will suffer the consequences, they will no longer be able to love anyone else, the pain they will feel will be unbearable, their soul would be torn to pieces, turning the person into a shell of what their former selves use to be.

It’s a price Josie is willing to pay, for Hope, Josie would give the universe, she would wrangle the stars and arrange them however Hope wanted. So if Hope’s freedom and happiness hinge on the destruction of her soul, then so be it. 

She gives herself a week to spend with Hope, with her friends, with Lizzie, she tries to spend time with her parents, but her mom doesn't pick up her calls and her dad is always busy. Despite everything, despite the circumstances that have led to this, she enjoys her last bit of life. 

On her last day she decided to be brave. Her and Hope are watching a movie, she can't even remember the name, all of her thoughts are consumed with Hope, Hope who saved her countless times, Hope who poked back, Hope who is selfless, Hope who has lost too much, Hope who is her soulmate, at least for the next couple of hours. 

“Hope” Josie whispers, trying not to startle the tribrid “Would you forgive me if you lost me?” 

“Why are you thinking such awful things, Jo?” Hope’s voice is choked with emotion and confusion.

“Answer the damn question Mikaelson.” Josie doesn’t back down, this is the last night she will spend as herself after all. 

“No,” Hope answers back in an equally harsh tone “You’re too important to me, my best friend, my most important confidante, the person that understands me better than anyone else. If I lost you, I think a part of me would hate you, Always and Forever,”  _ Like I hate my parents  _ went unsaid.

They sit in silence, watching a movie neither of them cares about. 

Josie kisses Hope Mikaelson for the first and last time that night. It happens just as Hope was leaving to her room, Josie gathers all the courage she has left, pulls Hope in and kisses her softly, trying to pour all her love and devotion into a single kiss. At first, Hope is frozen, she’s dating Landon, she can’t be doing this, her body betrays her, she kisses Josie back against all logical thought. It’s the best kiss either of them has ever had. 

“I’m sorry, I know you’re with Landon, I just wanted to know what it felt,”  _ to be loved by you, I wanted to know what our life could have felt like if I weren’t such a coward  _ Josie wants to scream, instead she looks at the floor. 

Hope has no idea what to think, she’s confused, her best friends just kissed her, her emotions are going haywire. The tribrid mumbles her goodbyes and leaves the room in a daze. Josie knows it’s for the better. 

Josie makes the scissor out of a stolen vial of Hope’s blood, her bleeding palm, and the talisman Hope gifted to her on her 16th birthday. 

She looks at the red string elegantly tied to her pinky, she starts to cry. None of her loved ones will receive an explanation, but it's alright, it's not like she's dying, she's just going to break her very soul in half. 

The scissors tremble in her hand, she brings them slowly to the thread. Her hand freezes before she can cut the string, she takes a deep breath  _ for Hope, I must do this for her, she would abhor their connection _ , she thinks and closes the scissors as fast and hard as she can.

The thread snaps and everything memory or feeling she has had about Hope flashes before her eyes. The pain is unbearable, she feels her soul tear beyond repair, the love fades out of her body, she is a shell of her former self. 

Josette Lucas Salztman died that night, it matters not that her body remains.

On the other side the school, tucked safely in the arms of Landon Kirby, Hope Andrea Mikaelson feels emptier than ever, tears roll down her cheeks, she doesn’t know why. 

**Author's Note:**

> That was kinda sad huh. Let me know if you want part two.
> 
> Please tell me if you liked it and how you felt in the comments. 
> 
> Follow me on twitter @DXNYARYA for more hosie content amonst other things.


End file.
